


Tattoos On My Mind

by FiresofAnarchy



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Tales From The Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Character Death, Depression, Double Date, Grief/Mourning, Jealousy, Multi, Revenge, admitting feelings, comfort zones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 01:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15897900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresofAnarchy/pseuds/FiresofAnarchy
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring various characters from Tales From The Borderlands.





	1. Prize Fight

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic has been sitting over on Fanfiction.net for a long time. It's actually been two years since I updated it last. I had been waiting to transfer it over here because I wanted to wait until I wrote a new chapter but that hasn't happened. That doesn't mean that I won't write something new in the future but I was cleaning up some other stuff with summaries and so forth and figured I might as well get my two accounts completely on the same page. This was originally labeled a Rhys/Fiona fic specifically but I've generalized it for future considerations. Anyways as I've said the chapters here are some of the first pieces of fanfic I ever wrote and most of the older stuff is completely deleted. It isn't my best work and it features a writing style I've really moved away from but I hope you like it all the same. This first chapter is even older than the rest of the fic and I started writing it when I first finished the game. I still believe Rhys and Fiona should have been more of an option in the base game.

Rhys wasn't exactly excited about the idea of watching two people beat each other to a pulp as a form of entertainment but after seeing first hand what some of Pandora's less desirable rabbles enjoyed as entertainment he didn't protest when Fiona suggested that they go.

"Come on this will be fun," he remembered her saying as she grabbed his hand and started leading him towards the caravan. "You'll see."

Now he found himself with nothing to do while Fiona drove them to the site of the fight, some sort of arena which he had never heard of. He guessed that no matter how long he was here that Pandora would always have another surprise for him; he also assumed that Fiona would follow the pattern of her home world. He hardly imagined when he first met her, the reason he wasn't going to be climbing the Hyperion ladder with that smug, self-assured smile on her face, that he would be doing something like this with her but now it just seemed right.

"So what kind of fight is this exactly," he asked trying to pry more information out of her.

"Just a fight you know," she said. "Two people going after each other in a bareknuckle brawl until one of them prevails."

"That's still pretty vague," he said.

"It's not a fight to the death if that's what you're thinking though I'm sure we can find one of those if that's what you're into," she said.

"I'm not into anything," he said. "I'm only going because you want to go."

"As much as I appreciate that," she said. "I still want you to keep an open mind."

"Mind is open," he said, feeling the need to actually point to his head for reasons that completely escaped Fiona.

"I'll hold you to that," she said turning her attention back to driving. She turned on the radio and an alternative rock song that left Rhys feeling like he would never completely "get it" no matter how many times he listened began playing.

"Don't you guys do anything slightly less violent around here for entertainment," he said after a short silence. He had after all came from a place that considered shooting at each other with finger guns to be the pinnacle of both sport and entertainment.

"Like what," she queried uncertain as to what exactly he was getting at.

"Chess," he said confidently.

"You're serious," Fiona said after a short chuckle.

"Why wouldn't I be," he said. "Don't you enjoy a little mental exercise every now and then?"

"Sure," she said suddenly feeling slightly self-conscious. "It's just that I've never played that."

"Really," he said.

"It wasn't exactly at the top of Felix's parenting priorities to teach Sasha and I how to play games," she said. "I know what it is though."

"That's it,' he said, a smile spreading across his face. "I am so teaching you how to play chess once we get back."

"No you don't have to," she said nervously. "I'm sure I'm fine."

"Afraid of losing," he said.

"Hardly," she scoffed.

"Then it's settled," he said with a smug grin. "I teach you how to play and then we face each other on the glorious field of battle that is tactics and mental strategy."

"Glorious field of battle," she questioned. "Don't you think that's a little overdramatic?"

"You don't think so," he said. "It's actually really competitive once you get into it; I can picture you flipping the table in anger already."

"Did you just insinuate that I am a sore loser," she asked.

"Maybe," he said another smile on his face.

"You're on just for that," she said.

"Did something I say anger you," he said mockingly.

"Hardly, but if you don't shut up you're going to find out what happens when I am angered," she said in a warning tone.

"I'm pretty sure I already have a good idea," he said.

She shot him a glare.

"I wouldn't want to press my luck though," he said raising his hands in mock surrender.

He resigned himself to watching the Pandoran landscape race by as Fiona drove them closer and closer to their final destination. Not much of interest jumped out at him.

They finally arrived at the "arena" as Fiona had called it, to Rhys it hardly qualified as more than a large shack.

"This is really where the fight is happening," he said. "It's a little underwhelming."

"Next time I'll tell them to bring out the padded, leather seats and high end cocktails just for you," she said with a smirk.

"Much appreciated," he said.

The fight itself began almost as soon as they were inside. One of the fighters was noticeably larger than the other and clearly had the advantage; that didn't stop him from drawing out the punishment as long as possible and Rhys was beginning to think that Fiona had lied to him when she claimed it wasn't a fight to the death.

"Is that guy's eye even attached to the rest of his body anymore," he asked not sure if he really wanted to know. He could feel himself about to throw up.

"Oh come on you baby," she said. "You wore another guy's face."

That did it, he turned to the other side so that it wouldn't land on her.

"You know that I specifically asked for that never to be brought up again," he said after he was sure it was all out of his system. "You don't know what it was like."

The horror was evident on his face.

"I'm really disappointed that I wasn't there to see it in person," she said laughing at his discomfort.

"Next time there is another person's face to be worn you're so doing it," he said.

"You wouldn't really want to mess this up would you," she said pointing to her own face.

He sat thoughtful for a while before saying, "I guess you're right; one of us has to be the good-looking one."

"I don't know, I hear some people actually find cybernetics pretty sexy," she said teasingly.

"No one comes to mind," he said feigning ignorance.

"We'll have to fix that then," she said as she leaned in kissing him.

It was at that moment that Rhys decided that coming to this fight had been worth it. It may have been bloody and overly violent to the point where he was almost vomiting every five minutes but as long as she was with him it was still a good time. Now he just had to get her to sit down long enough to actually play a game of chess with him.


	2. The Day She Didn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My initial notes don't give me much of the story behind writing this other than the fact that I was intending to write something more lighthearted and this just sort of happened. Whatever the case this chapter is the saddest this fic is going to get and I hope it doesn't crush your soul too much. This chapter is one story that I may end up continuing somewhere down the road but we'll see.

Rhys stood frozen in the same spot he had been standing for the past two hours still caught up in the surreal nature of the situation that he found himself in. If any of the many dangers of Pandora decided to attack him at this moment he would not be able to react in time to defend himself and if he was being honest with himself a quick death was preferable given the circumstances. He clutched the object in his hand tighter, it was the same hat she had been wearing at their first meeting; he smiled briefly at the memory of that day, the day he became more than just another Hyperion suit, and it was all because of her.

"I should have been there," he said to the air as he continued to stare at the ground.

"You wanted me to be," he said with a sad smile. "Remember?"

It had been a day just like any other, Fiona was pouring over maps and other information related to vaults so that she could get a better idea of which direction she should be continuing her search. The Vault of the Traveler had been a bust but that didn't mean that there still weren't untold riches out there somewhere, she just had to find them. Rhys was watching from one corner of the room a large smile on his face at the sight of her so deep in thought and distracted by her work. He sipped his coffee and continued to watch silently not wanting to break her out of the daze she was in, she was cute when she was concentrating so hard on something.

"There," she said finally lifting her eyes from the map in front of her. "That's where we'll find the goods."

He came closer so that he could see where she was pointing, "Didn't you just check there last week?"

"Well yeah," she said with a slightly embarrassed tone. "There's got to be something there though, all of the information I've gathered says so."

"And you trust this information," he said skeptically.

"You never trust information 100 %, but this came from a reliable source so I'm inclined to believe it," she said.

"Athena," he said.

"Yes," she said while walking towards the door. "Now are you coming or what?"

She had that look in her eyes, that determined look that always made her look so self-assured. He had seen that look in her eyes many times before and once she got that look there was almost no stopping her. He was about to reluctantly say yes when he received a call from Vaughn.

"Hey bro," Vaughn started out. "We have a bit of a situation here and I could use your help."

"Why me," Rhys said.

"You know why you," Vaughn said. "Now are you gonna help or not?"

"Ugh fine," Rhys said after a short deliberation in his head. "I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Thanks bro," Vaughn said. "I owe you one."

"Sorry," Rhys said turning his attention back to Fiona. "I guess you'll have to go without me."

"That's ok," she said. "You'd probably just slow me down anyways."

"You wound me," he said showing mock offense.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she said before leaning in to kiss him.

Had he known that that was the last kiss they would ever share he would have savored it longer, maybe done something special to commemorate the moment. Alas, it was nothing more than a short kiss before she headed out the door full of optimism for what she would find. While Rhys was slightly nervous about letting her go out on her own he knew that she could handle herself, after all she had gone out on her own plenty of times before and she always came back, until the day she didn't.

Bringing himself back to the present Rhys noticed the tears running down his face at the memory.

"You know what it was that Vaughn wanted," he said.

"It was stupid really," he continued after waiting for an answer that he knew wouldn't come. "There was a group of refugees ready to barge in, kill Vaughn, and take power for themselves all because they thought their living conditions weren't up to the standards they should have."

"Isn't that just the dumbest thing you've ever heard," he said again waiting for an answer that never came. "Even after everything they were still just as stuck up as they were when they were on the station."

"So I went and diffused the situation, told them they were being idiots," he continued. "And of course they listened because even with all of their fervor their hero worship still won out, it was so typical."

"I should have been there," he said repeating his earlier statement. "With you, protecting you."

"I know you would say that you didn't need protection," he continued. "But it just always made me feel better when I had your back."

He brought his head up to look at the sky still clutching her hat to his chest. Night was fast approaching and he knew that he would soon have to go back to a house that was noticeably emptier than it had been only a week earlier.

"You never did tell me where you got this hat," he said with a sigh. "I guess some things are better as a mystery."

He sat down and started rubbing the smooth rocks that marked the final resting place of his beloved Pandoran con artist. He brought the hat up to put it on his head. He had never really been a hat guy throughout his life and he knew that he didn't make it work like she did, but he just couldn't bring himself to let it go; the whole feeling of it on his head combined with the smell of her that still lingered made it feel like she was still right there with him.

"I love you Fiona," he said as he felt more tears welling up in his eyes. "And I always will."

He got up and began the slow walk back to the caravan slightly disappointed that none of Pandora's dangers had paid him a visit during his reverie. He would continue coming back the next few days, she deserved that much, but his plans for vengeance would occupy him for a while after that. He wasn't even sure who it was that he should be seeking vengeance against, but whoever it was had no idea what was about to hit them.


	3. Admission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my attempt to tackle the whole "I'm interested in someone else" scene which I admittedly never got in my initial playthrough since I had him give the flower to Sasha, for entirely different reasons than the game intended it to be for though. Anyways my initial notes say this turned out shorter than I intended but it's still a decent look at how that conversation could have been expanded on.

Rhys just stood there with his mouth agape unsure of what to do. He immediately contemplated running but knew that that would only draw out the inevitable. He should have seen this coming being one Hyperion's top negotiators, a job which required an ability to read people and to be able to constantly anticipate their next move. Of course Fiona had thrown him for a loop from the very beginning so maybe he shouldn't have been entirely shocked.

"You don't have to worry," he had said in response to her questions about his intentions toward Sasha. "I'm interested in someone else."

Those words had seemed like the logical response in his head, vague yet still shutting the door on her idea of him being interested in her sister. He had been anticipating a longer pause in the conversation, a pause where he could easily get himself out of delving into that particular topic any further by declaring the conversation over and continuing forward towards the portal into the Vault of the Traveler.

"So who is it then," she asked almost immediately completely derailing his previous plans. "This other person you're interested in."

She stood there boring holes into his skull with her stare evidently wanting an answer to the only question he wasn't ready to give her the answer to yet.

"Well um," he started unsure of where he was going to go with the sentence.

"It's not Yvette is it," she cut in saving him from completing his thought. "Because that would be kind of weird after the whole betrayal thing."

"No of course not," he said quickly.

"Hm," she said contemplating. "Well it can't be Athena and you already ruled out Sasha; is it someone I don't know?"

"You know her better than I do," he mumbled under his breath so she couldn't hear it.

His mind was still trying to wrap around a way to get him out of the situation without telling her the truth. He mentally cursed himself for not just going along with the illusion she had created about him and Sasha; it would have been way easier than dealing with this.

"What was that," she said. "If you're having some sort of fling with a Pandoran whore I won't judge you, I just need to know or it will eat at me until I do."

He tried one final time to find a way out of actually answering the question but his mind remained hopelessly blank. To his horror it seemed that the only way out of the situation was telling the truth, and as much as it pained him he had been wanting to get it off of his chest for a while now.

"It's you," he said in a nervous voice that sounded nothing like his own.

"What," she said giving him a look that seemed to already be questioning his sanity.

"You, I'm interested in you," he said more confidently. "I guess you deserve to know since we may not make it back from the other side of that portal."

"This is not a good time for jokes Rhys," she said a blush already starting to appear on her face.

"It's not a joke," he said. "It's the truth, I'm interested in you Fiona."

"Why," she asked, her cheeks getting redder by the minute.

"Why not," he said. "You're the most beautiful, selfless woman I've ever met and in the short time that I've known you I've felt more alive than I've ever felt in my life."

"Oh," she said unable to look him in the eyes at the moment.

"If this is weird for you then we can pretend it never happened," he said trying to comfort her.

"No it's not that," she said quickly. "It's just that no one's ever said anything like that about me before."

"Well I meant every word of it," he said.

"Most of the guys I've known were after only one thing and didn't have time for that kind of flattery," she said.

"You deserve it," he said reaching up to cup her cheek.

"Rhys," she said tears starting to well up. "I'm just a two-bit Pandoran con artist, I don't deserve anything."

"Don't say things like that," he said moving to brush the tears away. "I don't know many two-bit con artists who would go out of their way to honor a fallen friend with a special message in the sky or try to save their mentor's life even after he betrayed them; you're a good person Fiona and you deserve the world."

He took her into a warm embrace and they stayed like that for a while afterwards, neither one wanting to break the moment. Of course it couldn't last forever.

"Well," she said taking a step towards the portal. "Let's see if the world's waiting for us inside, though I doubt you can find something that sappy inside of a vault."

He wasn't going to let her get off that easily. "So what do you think of that," he said nervously. "Me being interested in you I mean."

"Well," she said raising a finger to tap it on her chin. "I think that I'm interested in you too, so I guess we just see where this goes."

"Really," he asked.

"Really," she said affirmatively.

She reached out her hand for him to take it which he happily did. They walked through the portal hand in hand unsure of what they may find on the other side but confident that they would be able to get through whatever it was together. He couldn't stop himself from smiling and was glad that he had finally gotten that weight off of his chest. He didn't know what the future had in store for him, he only knew that he wanted her by his side for whatever it was. When he had first came to Pandora he had found himself completely out of his element, but she made it bearable and he was going to do whatever it took to keep her with him.


	4. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My initial notes seem to indicate that this sat around on my computer for a while before I just pushed forward and finished it. I suppose it was my attempt to write a jealous Rhys since I still hold the belief that he'd be the one most insecure about the relationship. It's probably not the greatest. Fiona sets him right at the end though and that's for the best.

Rhys was bored, it had been almost two hours since Fiona left to talk to Sasha about a con that they were currently doing. They had never really told him the particulars of the job, but with the disappointment that was the Vault of the Traveler, Fiona's vault hunter training still in progress, and his own endeavor with Atlas still in its infancy their cons were the only reliable source of income; it made him feel pretty useless. He had been the best that Hyperion had to offer, capable of taking down entire companies with a few well-placed computer viruses and code rewrites, and now here he was lying in bed while his girlfriend and her sister were out conning the unsuspecting masses out of their pocket change.

To stop himself from wallowing too much in his self-pity he decided to pass the time he decided to go for a walk around town, Sanctuary was as good a place as any he had found on Pandora thus far and at least there wasn't any shortage of protection on short notice in case any trouble happened to show up. It was, however, not that big of a city once you knew where to go and so he found himself standing outside of Moxxy's within the span of a couple minutes. He found himself staring at the slot machines fighting the inner turmoil of using his Echo eye to hack into the machine and have it spit out a winning prize; Moxxy had caught him last time and had been pretty adamant about kicking him out of the bar the next time he did so, but it was still so tempting. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, Fiona was sitting at one of the tables with some drifter he had never seen before and it looked like said drifter was getting ideas. Without even thinking Rhys walked over and tapped the guy on the shoulder.

"What do you want robo-boy," the drifter said. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"Oh you look busy alright," he said in a condescending tone.

"Rhys don't do anything stupid," he vaguely heard Fiona say over the rage that was building up inside of him.

"Listen to the lady," the drifter said sneering. "Don't do anything you can't undo."

"This doesn't concern her, okay well it does technically, but that doesn't matter right now because this is between you and me," he said trying to sound as tough as possible.

"Smooth," he heard Fiona say while suppressing a chuckle. He didn't find anything about this situation to be funny.

"You think you can take me," the drifter said getting into a fighting stance.

Rhys moved to punch him with his robot arm put immediately got thrown to the ground and pinned.

Fiona started mock clapping as the drifter drove his knee into his chest.

"Nice moves," she said. "Good to see that I have you here to defend my honor."

"A little help," he managed to say from under the larger man.

Fiona pulled the drifter off of Rhys and put him into a choke hold. After the drifter was passed out on the floor she reached a hand down to help Rhys up off of the floor.

"You do know that you just ruined my con don't you," she said in an amused tone.

"Oh," Rhys said scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said shaking her head at the limp figure on the ground.

"I just thought," he started to say before she put her finger up to his mouth to make him stop.

"I know," she said. "Really it's fine."

As she walked away he still wasn't sure.

It was later in the night when Fiona finally heard the door open and Rhys walk in. She wasn't necessarily upset that he had ruined the con per se although that was some small part of it. It was more the fact that he thought that any guy hitting on her was a threat to their relationship, like she couldn't control herself when being hit on, or like he didn't have any faith in their relationship to begin with. They needed to talk. She waited for him to settle into the bed next to her before speaking up.

"We need to talk about what happened today," she said in a calm tone.

"Yeah," he said. "Look I was just."

"Jealous," she cut him off. "Insecure about our relationship."

"I don't know," he said nervously, he wasn't good with this sort of thing. "It's just that you could have any guy you want and I'm not exactly the catch of the day over here so yeah maybe I am a little insecure."

"And you think I'm just going to throw myself at any guy that uses a few honeyed words on me," she said with a slight hint of frustration.

"No," he said. "But in that moment I just couldn't help myself but run through all of the worst case scenarios and what if he just tried to have his way with you anyways?"

"Really," she said raising an eyebrow. "Who was it that ended up taking him down again?"

"You," he answered.

"And you still think that he could have had his way with me if I didn't want him to," she said.

"Okay fine," he said. "I'm an idiot, you happy now?"

"Listen," she said. "I'm touched that you felt the need to defend my honor like that, even if it was in some jealous, insecure rage based on unfounded fears, but you're the only one that's getting past first base with me; got it?"

"Got it," he said. "Why were you even allowing that guy to butter you up, I thought that was Sasha's job."

"Okay, first we're going to ignore the part of that that sounds like you're ok with whoring out my sister," she said.

"You know that's not what I meant," he said.

"Then what did you mean Rhys," she said. "Am I not sexy enough to play the seductress?"

"Woah, woah," he said. "That's not what I was saying at all, you are very sexy, it's just that I don't know, that's never seemed like your role in the scheme of a con before."

"Well I'll have you know," she said. "That I am perfectly capable of seducing anyone I want and if the con calls for it to be me on the front lines being the seductress instead of Sasha then I'll do whatever the job takes because I can con anyone in any way needed."

"Ugh," Rhys said. "Alright you've made your point."

"Good," she said before turning back from him and trying to get to sleep.

Rhys found himself drifting off to the sounds of Fiona's breathing knowing that there was never any real reason to be concerned in the first place. He and Fiona had been through too much together for either of them to just throw the other away at the drop of a hat.


	5. Tell Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was my attempt at a more Rhyiona conclusion to the whole Jack situation which I think is warranted especially considering the fact that one of the biggest choices in the game is choosing whether to trust Jack or Fiona. I was listening to She's So Mean by Matchbox Twenty while writing this and this is probably one of the first times I ever associated a song with a chapter though admittedly it is a loose association.

Fiona was perplexed, nobody else had seemed to notice Rhys acting differently ever since they had met back up in Hollowpoint, before that even now that she thought about it; not even Vaughn had brought up his best friend's nervous behavior and acted like everything was fine. Athena just seemed suspicious about everyone and everything so she wasn't much help either. She was also perplexed by the fact that she in fact did notice, she had only known him a short time and wasn't exactly sure how she felt about the fact that she had almost instantly noticed something off about his mannerisms. After an internal battle that had left her more confused than ever she finally just decided to go with her gut and confront him about it. She made her way to the roof of the caravan, where he had disappeared to earlier, and was shocked by what she found.

"I guess we can work together for now," Rhys said into the nothingness.

Fiona gave a look to Loader Bot and Gortys, they were so cute together, who just shrugged; or at least as much as a pair of robots can approximate a shrug. She took a breath and spoke.

"Rhys," she called out in a steady tone. "Who are you talking to?"

Rhys had been so engrossed in his conversation with Jack that he hadn't even noticed Fiona come up on the roof. Now he stood with an expression somewhere between shock and horror painted on his face. He tried to think of some intelligent excuse, but all that came out was a random jumble of words that even he couldn't make sense of.

"Rhys," she said in a gentler tone than the one she had used before. "What's wrong; you've been acting strange ever since you fell and hit your head; you didn't do any permanent damage did you?"

He was again caught in between emotions as he was touched that she was actually thinking about his wellbeing but also still in horror at what could happen if he told her the truth.

"No," he said completely failing to sound or act normal. "Nothing like that."

"Smooth," he heard Jack say from behind him making him jump; he had forgotten that he was still there.

"What did I tell you about sneaking up on me," he said to Jack forgetting for a moment the situation he was in.

"Like that right there," she said pointing at him. "What was that?"

"It's nothing," he lied.

"Don't say anything," Jack said still behind him. "It was bad enough when you told Mr. Six Pack about me, but there's no way telling a Pandoran you have me inside your head can end well for you, or me."

"You trust me don't you Rhys," Fiona said breaking his concentration on Jack's rambling.

"Of course," he said. "Never doubted you for a second back in the Gortys facility."

"Then you know you can tell me anything right," she said. "We're in this together and if there's something bothering you then I deserve to know about it."

"I know," he said. "It's just a really weird thing to tell people."

"You ever see two skags gettin' it on," she said with a smirk. "I can handle weird."

"She's right," Jack said. "After you see that you're never really the same."

"Okay fine," Rhys said. "Just promise you won't freak out."

"No freaking out here," she said. "Just a concerned friend."

Rhys smiled at her use of the word friend again, it wasn't just a ploy to get Scooter off their backs.

"Handsome Jack is in my head," he blurted out.

"What," she said, a weird expression on her face.

"The drive thing that I downloaded into my head," he explained. "It had some sort of holographic copy of Jack on it; he's in my head now."

"Wow," she said in an unsure tone. "That's not what I was expecting at all."

"It's ok though," he said trying to sound reassuring. "He's only a holographic interface so he can't do much of anything."

"I heard that," Jack said in an annoyed tone.

"Rhys he's in your head," she said. "How is that ok?"

"He's actually been helpful so far," he said. "Helped me and Vaughn escape from Vasquez the first time he cornered us."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's Handsome Jack in your head," she said. "Do you even know half of what he did down here?"

"I always like to hear people talk about my accomplishments," Jack said.

"Yes," Rhys said. "They don't let you get away without knowing every detail of Jack's life up on Hyperion."

"Then how can you think having him in your head is a good thing," she asked.

"I don't," Rhys said slightly aggravated. "But this is how it is so if you're going to shoot me or something can you just get it over with because I don't think I can handle the waiting while Jack makes snide comments about it."

Surprisingly she found herself closing the distance between them to wrap him in a hug.

"Sorry," she said. "I wasn't even thinking about how hard this must be for you."

"Thanks," he said.

"You may have Handsome Jack inside your head," she said. "But we can still get through this together."

"Fiona," he said in a serious tone. "I trust you."

"Yeah," she said. "You've already proven that."

"If something happens I want you to take care of me before I hurt someone," he said pleading with her with his eyes. She didn't know what to say to that, casting her gaze at the ground at the thought.

"Hey," he said in a comforting tone. "It's just a precaution; like you said, we'll get through this together."

"Together," she said pulling out of the embrace.

"Awww," Jack said clapping. "I'd be even more touched if you weren't just talking about me like I wasn't even here."

Before Rhys could reply to Jack's comment he felt Fiona slap him. A look of confusion and surprise spread across his face. At least the blow got Jack to go away, for now.

"What was that for," he said confused.

"I guess we can work together for now," she repeated his words to Jack. "Were you seriously making a deal to work together with that psychopath?"

"Oh that," he said still rubbing his face. "I have to keep him on my good side, otherwise he might try to take control of my systems and then you'll have to act."

"Oh," she said casting her gaze at the ground again at the thought of her having to kill him.

"Let's go see what Sasha, Vaughn, and Athena are up to," he said trying to lighten the mood.

"Alright," she said seeing that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

After the two had gone back inside the caravan Loader Bot and Gortys once again had the roof to themselves.

"That got pretty deep," Loader Bot said.

"So cute though," Gortys chimed.


	6. Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we have it. The last time I wrote Rhys/Fiona two years ago. It's also the first time I ever wrote Lilith/Maya which spawned its own separate fic that has also been more generalized for future considerations with my recent housekeeping. I'm not sure when I'll ever get around to adding to this fic. Hopefully inspiration hits me in some form before they come out with Tales From The Borderlands season 2 which is coming God knows when. I honestly don't understand why the Walking Dead game has gotten four seasons while Tales From The Borderlands, Wolf Among Us, and Game of Thrones have gotten nothing especially considering that the Walking Dead game really took a nosedive at the end of season 2, but that's a rant for another day. I hope whoever reads this enjoys it even if it has taken me two years to finally get it over here.

"There they are," Rhys heard Fiona say enthusiastically; he immediately stilled when he saw who it was that she was pointing to.

"The two sirens are the other part of our double date," he said questioningly even though the evidence was all around him.

"Of course," Fiona said nonchalantly. "And they do have names you know."

"Right," he said not managing to keep the tinge of fear out of his voice.

"That's Maya," she said pointing to the blue haired woman in question who seemed to have an annoyed look on her face.

"And that's Lilith," she added pointing to the red haired woman currently sitting casually with her feet on the table.

"We need to talk," he said trying to sound as casual as possible while grabbing her arm and pulling her outside.

"They should be here by now," Maya said from her seat at the table.

"Maybe they got "distracted", if you know what I mean," Lilith said raising her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Clearly the most likely scenario," Maya said sarcastically.

"Although if their sex drive is anything like yours then I suppose it could be possible," she added with a more serious tone.

"Not my fault that you're such a sexy badass," Lilith said again motioning with her eyebrows.

"If those eyebrows are meant to suggest that we go at it right here on the table then I feel obligated to tell you that there are other people here right now," Maya said barely suppressing a sigh. "In case you didn't know."

"You're no fun," Lilith said showing mock hurt. "Besides, I don't think Moxxi would care if we started going at it right here; she might even join in."

There was another suggestive motion with the eyebrows.

"Because a threesome is definitely what I came here for," Maya said putting her head in her hand.

"It doesn't have to be just a threesome," Lilith said with a smirk.

"Can you just get your feet off the table so we don't look like complete slobs when they show up," Maya said trying to steer the conversation in a less sexual direction.

"We're pretty much the height of society on Pandora though," Lilith pointed out. "Not much I can do to change that."

"Fine, you do you," Maya said reluctantly. She shut her eyes and began to quietly meditate hoping that Fiona and Rhys would show up quickly.

Rhys was pacing back and forth outside of Moxxi's trying to think of the best way to put his fears to Fiona, because she clearly wasn't getting it.

"If you dragged me out here just to show me your improved pacing skills I must say I'm unimpressed," she said with a smirk.

"This is not a laughing matter," he said plainly.

He decided to just come out and say it, "I don't even want to think about what two sirens could do to me if they found out that I was ex-Hyperion."

"Really," she said laughing. "That's what you're concerned about."

"I feel like my physical wellbeing is worthy of being concerned about, yes," he said not understanding why she was laughing.

"You really think I haven't already told them," she said. "Because that was one of the first things that came up when we were planning this little get-together."

"Oh," he said slightly shocked. "And they took it well?"

"Yes," she said confidently. "Jack's dead and with Helios crashed and burned there's not much left of the corporate Hyperion left on Pandora to hate; and they trust me not to be involved romantically with a psychopath."

"That's comforting," he said unsure.

"Come on," she said pulling him back inside. "We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up," Lilith said immediately upon Fiona and Rhys getting within earshot. Maya slowly shook herself out of her meditated state and prepared for a long, long night.

"Someone decided that he needed to practice his pacing outside for a while," Fiona said with a smirk nodding towards Rhys.

"I happen to be quite proud of my pacing ability thank you very much," Rhys said trying to act natural.

"Everyone needs their own method of stress relief," Maya said. "Have you tried meditation before?"

"No," he said.

"Trust me," Lilith said. "It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"That's only because you refuse to use the methods I tell you to," Maya scoffed.

"There's only so much clearing of your mind you can do before there's nothing left," Lilith replied with a smirk.

"That doesn't even make sense," Maya said shaking her head.

"Taking Eridium on the other hand," Lilith said reveling in the memories. "Now that's something that really takes the edge off."

"They can't even use it like you can, hell even I can't," Maya said. "Besides it's probably best we don't get anybody else on this planet addicted to drugs."

"Eridium is much more than a simple drug," Lilith started to say again slipping into her memories. "It's, it's; you wouldn't understand anyways."

"Man I could really use a fix right now," Lilith blurted out.

"Lilith," Maya said disturbed. "You said you were going to try and cut yourself off from that stuff."

"And I am," Lilith confirmed. "It's just." She was once again lost in the memories.

Maya recognized that her girlfriend was a lost cause for the moment and turned to face Rhys. "Nice robot arm, have you met Gaige yet; I'm sure she'd freak out if she saw that."

"No he hasn't," Fiona answered for him. "He just got here, but I assure you that the opportunity for comparing robot arms will not be wasted."

"Robot arm," Rhys said with a sigh. "It just sounds so simple when you put it like that, I had to go through a lot to get this."

"Oh I'm sure you're Hyperion buddies made you jump through every hoop and agree to every piece of fine print before they let you get a toy like that," Lilith said rejoining the conversation.

"That's actually exactly what they did," Rhys said trying not to sound too uncomfortable at the use of the term buddies.

"So Fiona tells me you have a cult worshiping you too," Lilith said switching topics without a second thought. "Not all it's cracked up to be is it."

"No it isn't," he said nodding.

The rest of the night passed by filled with conversation and laughter over a fine Pandoran dinner of pizza. It was the first time in a long time that Rhys could remember actually having fun with people outside of Fiona, Sasha, and Vaughn; it was good to meet new people again, especially when those new people weren't also plotting to ruin your career.

Lying in bed he turned to Fiona and said, "Tonight was really fun, never actually been on a double date before."

"Glad I could help you cross that off your bucket list," she replied with a smirk. He smiled back then turned to prepare for sleep.

In another bed Lilith turned to Maya and said, "You think they'd be open to a foursome?"

"Why is everything about sex with you," Maya replied not completely ready for another round of this conversation.

"You try going all day looking at you and restraining yourself," Lilith said. "It isn't easy."

"You'll live," Maya said before returning to her peaceful inner reflection.

"Really," Lilith said annoyed. "You're just going to leave me hanging like that."

Cocking one eye open Maya said, "You're the one that keeps talking about multiple sex partners, clearly you won't be satisfied with just me."

"You're a cruel woman," Lilith said before slamming her head back against the pillow.


End file.
